


15.637

by MylittleFootballWorld



Series: The Vampire Series [17]
Category: Football RPF
Genre: M/M, Mention of torture, Oneshot, Vampire AU, Violence, as always a trigger warning just in case, blood mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-28 00:25:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10819860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MylittleFootballWorld/pseuds/MylittleFootballWorld
Summary: “Name?” “Jesé.” The punch knocked the air out of his lungs. “Name, soldier?” He gritted his teeth: “Jesé.” The next punch hit his face making him growl. This one would leave a nasty bruise. “Wrong again. We've been through this before, soldier. Just make it easy on yourself. Name?” “Go fuck yourself.” He howled in pain when he felt the knife pierce his insides. The silver burned his skin and made his insides feel like they were on fire.The vampire's knees buckled and he desperately tried to get air into his lungs.“I am going to ask you one last time, soldier. Your name?” He gritted his teeth trying to ignore the pain speaking was causing him: “15.637.”





	15.637

**Author's Note:**

> Before I start off rambling, I would like to say a big thank you for all the support I'm still getting despite not having posted anything in like 6 months now. I'm always surprised but incredibly thankful for the kudos I'm still getting and it fills me with happiness that people still read this. So, I would like to use this moment to express my thanks to you guys.  
> Now, originally this part wasn't even planned to be written for a long, long time since I originally meant to edit Among Vampires 2 first and then came the ideas for this. And then came writer's block. Long story short, it took me ages to get this done but here it is now. Please keep in mind, this is an unedited version, so there's lots of room for improvement. I will go back and edit this eventually but I have a couple of other projects coming first now.  
> I should point out that this new part takes place before Separation and Among Vampires 2.  
> Okay, now that I've got this rant over with, I hope you'll enjoy this very new part to The Vampire Series. Happy reading

“ _Name?” “Jesé.” The punch knocked the air out of his lungs. “Name, soldier?” He gritted his teeth: “Jesé.” The next punch hit his face making him growl. This one would leave a nasty bruise. “Wrong again. We've been through this before, soldier. Just make it easy on yourself. Name?” “Go fuck yourself.” He howled in pain when he felt the knife pierce his insides. The silver burned his skin and made his insides feel like they were on fire._

_The vampire's knees buckled and he desperately tried to get air into his lungs._

“ _I am going to ask you one last time, soldier. Your name?” He gritted his teeth trying to ignore the pain speaking was causing him: “15.637.”_

 

His name had become a faint memory. All he knew about himself now was that he was 15.637, one of Xavi most ruthless and skilled soldiers who never failed to make his blood boil by rebelling against him.

15.637 held a passionate hate for his leader. After he had been turned he swore to himself to kill him as soon as he got the chance. However, his plan required patience. To kill Xavi, 15.637 knew he had to keep learning, keep training, keep getting smarter, better. He therefore dedicated every free hour to his training quickly earning his leader's attention. Xavi greatly appreciated persistent, hard working soldiers supporting their efforts by letting his most skilled men teach them, which perfectly tied into his plan of killing his leader. The better he was trained, the faster he'd be ready.

Despite being ruthless and skilled he was young, only a year of age as a vampire, therefore he was not allowed to leave the headquaters most of the time as the danger of him killing a human in broad daylight was much too high and could possibly expose the clan to the public's eye. Xavi personally asking for him to go on a mission was the only exception. He was nothing more but a weapon, to be polished, perfected and used whenever necessary. A mindless puppet jumping at his master's every command. At least, that was what he was supposed to be.

Unlike the other soldiers he had kept a mind of his own. No matter how badly they hurt him, how hard they punished him his will remained strong and his mind fixated on his goal. He had lost everything a man could lose. His life, his family, his identity. His goal was the only thing keeping him going, what happened after he achieved it didn't matter, as long Xavi ended up dead.

 

The door gave away easily under the weight of his body falling to the floor with a loud noise. He entered the house followed by the two soldiers accompanying him. “I'll check the upstairs rooms, you stay downstairs. Any males will be taken, females will be killed, got it?”, 15.637 ordered and the soldiers nodded before looking at each other in annoyance because Xavi made them listen to a youngling's orders.

He slowly walked up the stairs listening to the erratic heartbeats thumping in his ears. He froze for a moment. A blood-curling scream echoed through the house, a woman. Then silent crying, probably the husband, judging by the fact that the soldiers apparently had no intention of killing the crying person. 15.637 continued his way upstairs, smelling a human behind the door right opposite the stairs.

Opening the door he found a young girl pressing herself into a corner as if trying to disappear into the wall. He noticed tears running down her face and briefly wonder what it was like to be human and feel fear and panic as he himself could not remember.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?”, her shaking voice almost made him feel sorry for her, almost. Approaching her he pulled her away from the wall. Any other time the girl's neck would already be broken by now or she'd be missing a few limbs but he still had use for her. “Listen to me. I will help you get out of here alive”, he handed her a bottle which she almost dropped due to her shaking hands, “open this bottle and keep it open until I left the house. Once I'm gone, you will get out of here and tell as many people as you can that your family was attacked and killed by vampires. They won't believe you but that's okay. Just keep telling people your story, can you do that?”

She stared at him wide eyed her mouth barely moving as she tried to form words. He tightened his grip around her arm and she nodded quickly. 15.637 smiled at her somewhat genuiely before opening the bottle and returning downstairs. This should make Xavi's blood boil alright.

The two soldiers were waiting for him with a trembling, crying man between them who couldn't tear his eyes away from what probably once had been his wife. “Anyone upstairs?” “A dead body”, he replied and then exited the house, “come on, we've got a few more houses to search. Bring that one to the others and then come find me.”

“15.637”, Xavi leaned back in his chair, “please, sit.” He raised an eyebrow but remained standing. The moment he had set foot in their headquater two soldiers had tightly gripped his arms and led him up to their leader's office. Now, he stood in front of him waiting for him to continue speaking.

“Bring her in.” His blood ran cold for a moment as he recognized the girl he had let go but quickly made sure to keep a neutral expression. Xavi asked the girl whether he was the man who had come to her house. She stared at him wide-eyed for a moment and nodded. “That's what I thought”, Xavi shook his head in apparent disappointment before he suddenly began to chuckle, “you just can't help yourself, can you? Always the rebel, always making a mess.”

Still laughing he rose from his chair and made his way over to 15.637 gripping his chin with one hand tightly, his voice suddenly cold: “Our little joker. I am just about done with you. Did you think I wouldn't find out? I've always got my eyes on you. Why are you playing games? And you're answer should better satisfy me.” 15.637 twisted his chin out of his grip and gritted his teeth: “Bite me.” He exhaled sharply when Xavi slapped him hard across the face.

“Tell someone to bring me a drink”, he growled at one of the two soldiers that had brought him in before returning behind his desk and taking a seat once more, “I am getting tired of your games, 15.637. Rest assured this will not go unpunished.” Just a moment later a man entered with Xavi's drink and he recognized him immediately. “Dad”, the girl's eyes light up instantly. He closes his eyes briefly knowing she made a fatal mistake just then. A shark-like grin spreads over Xavi's face: “Dad?”

The man looked at his daughter with empty, lifeless eyes that didn't seem to see her, as if she was invisible to him. Since he had just been turned and immediately woken up again his body was still processing the venom and his brain unable to function properly leaving him in a zombie-like state. ”Dad? What's wrong with you?”, Xavi's guards were quick to hold her back as she tried to run to her father, “Dad, please stop, you're scaring me.”

“Poor thing”, Xavi shook his head, a malicious smile appearing on his face, “Mommy isn't there and Daddy doesn't care. What to do? Oh, I think I know.” Then he ordered the girl's father to kill her. “She'll be killed anyway, no need to be cruel about it, Xavi”, 15.637 growled lowly, he couldn't bring himself to care for humans any longer but he knew why his leader was doing this and thought it was simply stupid. Xavi continuously failed to understand that his memory was indeed gone and he remembered nothing concerning who he was before he had been turned but his mind wasn't as easy to break. His leader still believed he had some form of memory and therefore was capable of feeling compassion or mercy thinking he could hurt him by making him feel responsible for a father killing his own daughter.

Xavi slapped him once more: “Quiet. I'll deal with you later.” He turned his head away when the man attacked the poor girl and the piercing scream rang in his sensitive ears.

 

He looked at himself in the mirror before slowly pulling his shirt off. Whincing slightly when the fabric scratched over the wounds on his torso he flung it aside. Bruises littered his body, his face displayed a black eye and thin lines of blood ran down his body from the various cuts and open wounds all over his chest.

One last chance. Because he was good. Better than any of his machines. One chance.

He ran a hand through his hair and watched as the flow of blood slowly began to stop as he picked up a needle and some string and began stitching up his open wounds to help his body heal them faster. Barely feeling the needle break his skin he patched himself up before cleaning off the blood carefully. His body felt heavy and tired. He could take a lot but the punishment had seemed to be endless and it had been hard trying not to show them any weakness and in just how much pain he was.

Once his wounds were stitched and the bleeding had stopped he dropped down on the bed whincing when his body hit the mattress immediately drifting off to a restless sleep filled with dreams of blood, screams and dead bodies.

The next morning he went down to the cells right away to feed and get his strength up again.

“15.637, Valdes demands to see you.” He raised his head the whimpering pet's blood running down his fangs and chin. Slowly he straightened his back dragging the pet to the wall and chaining it before inserting the infusion needle into its hand.

With a short nod he beckoned the youngling to lead him to his general. He wasted no thought on why Valdes asked for him. It probably was something he'd done that would get him punished once again.

“15.637, sir”, the youngling announced him as they entered the general's office. Valdes gave him a sharp nod and the youngling left. 15.637 stood in front of the desk waiting tempted to say something but keeping his mouth shut.

His general kept doing paperwork for a while until he eventually put his pen down: “Good, you're getting less impatient. I have orders for you, soldier. Our scouts will be arriving with the new recruits in less than 10 minutes. Gather some soldiers, brand and turn the recruits once they arrive.” 15.637 nodded and turned to leave but stopped when his general spoke once more: “No mistakes, soldier.” Smirking he left the office.

Once the new recruits arrived they were lined up in the foyer with a soldier standing behind each of them waiting for 15.637's command. However, 15.637 had other plans. No mistake, Valdes had said to him. Well, accidents happen. He had purposefully picked younglings to turn the new recruits, so when he cut his human's arm with his silver knife the vampires went wild with hunger and craving for blood instantly.

15.637 took a few steps back willing his own desire for fresh blood to disappear. Blood covered the walls and stone floor, bodies lay on the ground with younglings attached to the necks drinking every last drop.

The doors flew open and Valdes and Piqué appeared. The noise and the smell of blood had lead them from their meeting with Xavi to the foyer where new recruits were to be turned. Valdes' eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw the mess of blood and bodies. His eyes fell on one youngling leaning on a wall, not engaging in the bloodbath, 15.637. The Spaniard's blood began to boil.

“Clean up this mess”, he barked at Piqué, “he went too far this time. This was one mistake too much.”

 

“I will not stand for this, Xavi. I need order, I need recruits and I need soldiers that know how to follow orders”, Valdes paced up and down in Xavi's office. 15.637 was sitting in a chair opposite their leader's desk watching Xavi as the latter eyed him up. He tried to calm the rage and hate boiling up in him as he looked at his leader making him feel hot and itchy in his own skin.

A movement of Xavi's hand snapped him out of his thoughts. The black haired had raised his hand to stop Valdes from talking addressing his soldier directly: “You are a skilled fighter for your age, 15.637. Unfortunately you are incapable of following rules. I kept you alive because you are valuable despite proving to be rebellious at times. Your value outweighed the problems you caused.”

Xavi slowly rose from his place behind the desk moving around it until he stood behind his soldier. 15.637 watched his every movement closely, preparing to defend himself. The black haired's hands landed heavily on his shoulders: “Times changed, 15.637. And you do more harm and cause more trouble than you are worth. Every punishment has failed, so far.” Valdes flinched when his leader glared at him clearly displeased.

The black haired squeezed 15.637 shoulders briefly before returning behind his desk: “I think, it's time we turn to new, hopefully more effective, measures.”

They were interrupted when the door flew open crashing against the wall. Xavi hissed in anger when Piqué entered. The black haired was at his throat almost instantly. “Why would you disturb me so rudely?”, he growled, his fangs dangerously close to the taller one's neck.

“Los Blancos came for their brother”, the vampire stammered, “they've entered the headquater.” Xavi's hand around his neck tightened before he pushed him away sending him crashing into a wall. “You were supposed to secure the entrance”, he barked at Piqué, “why am I still keeping you alive? Valdés, stay here. 15.637, round up a few hundred soldiers and lead them down into the catacombs. I'll do the rest myself, then I know it'll be done correctly. Well, don't just stand there, get a move on.”

“This isn't over yet”, Valdés hissed before pushing his soldier out of Xavi's office shutting the door behind him. For a moment he considered simply not joining the fight but eventually decided nothing would make his leader's blood boil more than him messing up during the battle. He'd probably end up glad if he didn't join the fight and pleasing him was the last thing he wanted.

The catacombs were already a mess of blood and bodies when he and the soldiers arrived and 15.637 briefly admired the chaos Los Blancos had so easily caused despite their much lower numbers. Xavi must have had a group of soldiers dispatched to stop Los Blancos in case 15.637 decided not to show up. He dodged a head flying passed him unable to hide his smirk, it was one of Xavi's soldiers. Just as he was about to join into the fight he noticed an unexpected smell. In an instant he discovered the source, a human. The young man was pressing himself against the wall in panic while a black haired vampire shielded him from any attacks the best he could. He recognised the vampire, Alvaro Arbeloa, he had a habit of breaking into the headquaters stealing pets or killing younglings.

15.637 watched as Arbeloa suddenly sped away probably to help out one of his brothers leaving the human all by himself. He made up his mind in a matter of seconds. The man clearly meant something to Los Blancos, so chances were Xavi wanted him killed to hurt them and he would freak out if the human made it out alive. He killed his share of Culés while making sure the man survived until another vampire suddenly approached them. 15.637 recognised him, too. His name was Iker Casillas, the heir to the throne of Madrid. Just as he eyed Casillas and failed to pay attention for a moment Puyol knocked the human clean out. As quickly as he could 15.637 made sure to put some distance between himself and the situation to ensure Casillas wouldn't kill him in his obvious rage, too.

Puyol's neck broke easily but just as he tried to get away with the human Piqué engaged him in a fight forcing him to put the man down and leave him in order to fight properly. 15.637 kept his distance in case Casillas returned and took him for a threat, too but made sure to be close enough to kill any vampire who tried to get close. And then he himself was suddenly being attacked and lost sight of the human. He caught a glimpse of him just long enough to know Alves would kill him. The smell of human blood filled his nose and adrenaline began to rush through his body. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Casillas pick up the man and carry him out of the danger zone. Every fiber in his body screamed for him to go after the human and drink him empty, instead he forced himself to focus on the fight.

As soon as the battle had ended 15.637 rushed down to the cells satisfying his burning hunger with a pet's blood. He was on his way back to his room watching as soldiers carried bodies and various body parts off to the infirmary when Valdés appeared in front of him grabbing his arm tightly: “I told you, this isn't over. Move.”

Xavi was sitting at his desk in his destroyed office looking even more dangerous surrounded by the wreckage than usually. Due to the lack of chairs 15.637 remained standing in front of him with Valdés' hand heavy on his shoulder keeping him in place.

“As I said, it is time for new measures”, he said picking up right where he left off as if Los Blancos had never attacked them and they had never been interrupted, “I have a mission for you in Madrid. A couple of days ago, a few younglings escaped. We tracked them down to Madrid and I have no intention of welcoming them back. You and two other younglings will leave tomorrow, find and kill them. Use it as a chance to, hm, prove yourself.” The malicious smile on Xavi's face send shivers down his spine leaving him with an unsettling feeling.

He snapped out of his thoughts when his leader spoke once more: “And don't even consider to try and run. There is no place you could hide, we wouldn't find you. No place, we wouldn't kill you.” 15.637 nodded shortly and then left the office without waiting for permission to go.

 

“Rise and shine”, 15.637 groaned and rolled around to find Valdés standing in the doorway grinnig like he had just gotten some of the best news of his life, “it's your big day. Better don't disappoint.” He flipped him off and Valdés closed the door behind him again laughing. Sitting up slowly he ran a hand over his face. Something wasn't right. Valdés would never be so happy about him leaving for a mission if there wasn't something fishy about it but he had to go or he would be forced and his body hadn't even fully recovered from the last punishment. Of course he could attempt to flee but knowing Xavi he hadn't been bluffing when he said they would find him everywhere.

Sighing he got up from the bed and went into the bathroom to shower. Once he had gotten dressed he pulled out a case from under his bed and opened it revealing the weapons he owned. He settled for his favourite gun, the Walther P99, loading it quickly and packing an extra magazine before choosing the SIG 226 as backup gun, just to be sure.

Valdés was waiting for him downstairs in the foyer with the two younglings that would accompany him to Madrid. “The navigation system has been set for you beforehand and is directly connected to our system here. If you deviate from the route or change it we will know and you're dead, got it?” 15.637 nodded shortly and slipped into the driver's seat motioning the two younglings to get in the back. Valdés stopped him before he could close the door: “Don't mess up.” The door slammed shut and he started the car.

The more than six-hours drive was quiet for most of the time unless the younglings whispered to each other. He didn't pay any attention to them, they were probably scared since they've most likely never had left the headquater before. Once they reached Madrid the navigation system planned another route for them that after another two-hours long drive lead them to the Cabezas de Hierro.

15.637 exited the car and looked around wondering what the hell they were doing here. There was no way any youngling would flee into the mountains of all places. As the younglings accompanying him slowly came to stand beside him he picked up a smell. It wasn't human and yet he failed to recognize it. Though he should have known better he followed the smell, once he caught sight of the source he grabbed the younglings and pulled them behind a group of shrubs.

He recognized the two men immediately, Valdés always made especially sure the instructors taught the younglings who Raúl González Blanco and his family were and just how dangerous especially the leader himself and his boyfriend were. 15.637 shook his head almost tempted to chuckle, of course it was a trap, he probably should have known that right away.

González and his partner José María Gutierrez Hérnandez were obviously hunting when they caught the Culés' scent. The two other younglings tried to run but before they really had the chance to move the two vampires already stood in front of them instantly killing one of them each. Using the younglings as a distraction 15.637 pulled his gun and fired at Gutierrez. He caught the bullet just before it could pierce his chest. For a split second he smiled mockingly then he felt the silver burning his fingertips and dropped the bullet hissing in pain. Knowing it was now or never 15.637 attacked him forcefully kicking him in the chest. There was no way he could possibly out run them, fighting was his only choice if he wanted at least a chance to survive. Something cracked loudly when Gutierrez hit the ground. To his surprise the blonde started laughing as he slowly rose to his feet grabbing his own head and twisting it to the side which resulted in another loud crack: “Brave.”

Before he could attack 15.637 however the youngling heard growling behind his back and not a second later he hit a tree face first, payback for attacking González' boyfriend. He stumbled backwards before turning around and was barely able to dodge Gutierrez' punch. Using this crouched position to his advantage he slammed his fist against his opponent's chin sending him stumbling this time and before he had the chance to regain his balance 15.637 rammed his knee into his stomach.

Just as he tought he had finally gained a moment to gain his breath he felt hands on each side of his head steadily increasing the pressure until he could almost hear his own skull cracking. His pained scream only got louder when he felt a knife piercing his stomach, the silver immediately burning his insides. The hands disappeared suddenly but the knife was twisted in his body increasing the pain to the point he thought he would pass out.

All of a sudden he heard someone yell “José, stop” and the knife was removed. He fell to the ground supporting his weight on one shaking arm while he clutched at his wound with the other hand. Blinking rapidly he tried to get rid of the black spots blurring his vision as he took a deep breath only to immediately groan in pain. When he had crashed into the tree a few of his ribs had apparently broke. The adrenaline from the fight was starting to fade and the stinging pain became even worse.

Though all he wanted to do was collapse to the ground and accept his fate he forced himself back on his feet. González and Gutierrez were standing beside each other now talking but the humming in his ears kept him from hearing them. Without thinking he turned around and started running. He almost passed out from the pain it caused him but his survival instinct kicked in and kept him up. Someone behind him shouted something but he only kept running until he came to a deserted barn where he collapsed.

 

“What was that?”, Guti yelled furiously turning around to Raúl, knife still in hand, “That little bitch attacks us and instead of killing him you decided to herocially protect him?” “Don't talk about my son like that”, Raúl hissed angrily running a hand through his hair, “we have to find him. He'll die of his wounds if he doesn't get help.”

Guti's eyes almost popped out of his head: “Just a second, let's go back on the whole 'your son' part. If you don't tell me right now you're joking I might just cause a whole lot of damage here, Raúl.” “Will you please drop this act? This is getting ridicolous, you are making a bigger deal out of this than necessary, every time”, he crossed his arms in front of his chest in annoyance.

“Oh, this isn't an act. Granted, usually I might exaggerate a little but this is completely honest. I don't know if you noticed but he's a Culé, Raúl and he tried to kill us. That piece of filth is not my son. You can't seriously consider going after him, he'll put our family in danger and I'm not willing to take that risk because you thought you might have felt something. Just let him die.”

The cold look in his eyes almost made Guti flinch: “Do you hear yourself? José, he is our son and I will not leave him to die. When did you stop caring about the boys meant for our family?” “When they started coming from our enemy. That guy is not my son, Raúl”, he growled lowly subtly hinting their discussion was over. Raúl looked at him for a moment with a stony expression before turning around: “I will find him and bring him home. Like it or not.”

Once Raúl reached their home in Madrid he called his sons down into the bar explaining to them the newest family member that was supposed to join them had gone missing and was badly injured. When he mentioned their new baby brother was a Culé he earned several disbelieving looks. Iker slowly crossed his arms in front of his chest shifting his weight from one foot to the other: “You're kidding, right? You can't seriously expect us to accept a Culé as our brother.” “Agreed”, Alvaro said shrugging when his brother raised an eyebrow in surprise since he usually never shared his opinion.

“Boys, we don't have time for this now. We have to find him and that is not a question, it's an order. Now, I don't want to hear any further complaints, we've got to go”, Raúl slowly lost his patience. His son was somewhere out there, badly injured or potentially dead already.

Alvaro shook his head: “I'm not going.” Before he had the chance to say something Raúl was cut off by his boyfriend's voice: “You can't force them to put their lives on the line for someone who would gladly kill them in a heartbeat once he's given the chance.” Raúl gritted his teeth taking a deep breath: “Then don't. I don't have the time for this, he needs to be found. I will do it all by myself, if I have to.” “We'll find him”, Xabi squeezed his father's shoulder reassuringly ignoring Alvaro's look of utter surprise that quickly turned into one of disgust and barely contained anger at how he could betray his family for the enemy that easily. His father smiled at him before leaving the house followed by Xabi, Marcelo, Pepe, Gareth, James, Luka and Fabio.

“Where are you going?”, the sharp sound of his boyfriend's voice made Fabio stop in his tracks for a moment. He turned around slowly his body, unlike Cristiano’s, completely relaxed: “Finding my brother.” His face fell for a moment as Fabio turned back around and left the house following their father. Shaking his head in disbelief he grabbed a bottle of blood worrying his boyfriend had gone completely mad.

Sergio bit his bottom lip not sure whom to follow. Iker clearly had no intention to help but his conscience was screaming at him to help find his brother. The fact that he was badly injured and would without at doubt die if he didn't get help eventually tipped the scale in favour of his conscience. Running after Raúl as fast as he could he missed the shocked look in Iker's eyes who had trusted him to take his side.

 

Once Raúl had shown his sons exactly where the attack had happened and in which direction the boy had run they spread out searching the entire area. They spend hours out in the mountains continuing their search even after night had fallen and the world around them gone cold and silent. The darkness surrounding them made their search all the more difficult, only adding to the fact that they had no idea whether the boy had changed direction eventually or had run one and the same way until he couldn't anymore and that they had no idea who exactly they were looking for with their best chance being someone who was badly injured.

Sergio was dog tired when he reached a deserted barn wanting nothing more then to fall into his bed and cuddle with Iker until the cold that had settled deep in his bones disappeared. He was certain one of his brothers had already been here before him but Raúl had ordered them to search everything at least twice in case one of them might miss something. Entering the barn he looked around, thanks to his heightened senses he could see exactly just how dirty and run-down the place was.

His heart almost stopped beating when a rattling breath suddenly rang in his ears and his eyes quickly fell on a person lying curled up in a ball on the filthy floor. He quickly covered his mouth with his hands to make sure he didn't make a sound that could scare the vampire off, completely forgetting he could hear his heartbeat.

Slowly he came closer crouching down in front of the man who was pressing a hand to his stomach. He flinched violently when he felt Sergio's hand on his wrist staring at him wide-eyed like a deer caught in headlights. “I won't hurt you”, the youngling whispered as he carefully removed the man's hand inhaling sharply when he saw all the blood and the open wound. Feeling fine lines on the man's wrist he turned it so he could see what he stumbled on. A number was etched into his skin, 15.637. Sergio would have wondered what the number meant if he had the time to.

Xabi had equipped his brothers with first aid kits to assure they'd be able to treat their baby brother's wounds if they found him. Sergio took off his jacket carefully placing it under his brother's head to make sure it didn't lay on the stone-cold, hard floor before making quick work of his shirt to get a good look at the wound. He took a moment to thank Xabi for insisting on teaching them how to properly bandage wounds in cases of emergency, it was certainly paying off now.

He took a quick look at the flesh wound pulling a face for a moment. The skin's edges were burned from Guti's silver knife, Sergio assumed and dirt had gotten into it, probably when he had collapsed on the floor. Blood flowed freely from the large cut. He would have to stitch it up before being able to bandage it, otherwise the wound would take forever to heal. A worried noise escaped his lips, he had never done this before and he didn't want to hurt his brother but if he left now to get Xabi, he would either bleed out or if he lived long enough feel threatened by two vampires he didn't know and would probably freak out.

Swallowing dryly Sergio cleaned the wound and disinfected it the best he could before grabbing a needle and some string. He squeezed his brother's hand briefly in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture before he began stitching him up. He didn't make a sound while Sergio treated him leading him to assume the skin's burned edges were already dead. Once he had closed the wound to his best ability he cleand off the blood and bandaged it liked Xabi had showed them making sure not to put too much pressure on it to avoid causing his brother any pain.

Sitting back on his heels he looked at his work with a certain amount of pride. He never actually had to do this before and had only ever gotten to practice on his very healthy and wound-free brothers and he had nonetheless managed to take care of an actually wound. He sighed and eyed the man laying in front of him. His breathing was slow and rattling through his chest while his face was screwed up in an expression of pure pain. Sergio rummaged through the first aid kit and successfully retrieved some painkillers as he remembered he'd need fluids for his brother he take them he realised just how much blood he'd lost. Scrambling to his feet he exited the barn hoping he wouldn't think Sergio was abandoning him.

He killed the first person he found groaning in annoyance once he realised he had no bottle to transport the blood in. After finding the closest store and getting a bottle he'd pay for when he had the time he returned to the body he had carefully hidden in some shrubs. He dug his teeth into the neck and let the blood pour into the bottle before returning to the barn.

Gently he lifted his brother's head making sure he could drink comfortably without having to move too much. He put the painkillers in his mouth since he had fallen into a state of dizziness that left him unresponsive and then helped him slowly wash them down. Once his brother had emptied the bottle he looked a little more alive groaning lowly in pain.

Sergio ran a hand through his hair. Now that he had fixed him up the best he could he wasn't sure what to do with him. His brother was by no means strong enough to survive by himself in the barn for a while but getting Raúl or bringing him home was no option either, half of their family didn't want to have him and would most likely attempt to kill him the second they laid eyes on him not to mention there was a 90 percent chance he would feel threatened and bail. Sergio didn't want to drive him away now that he found him but couldn't abandon him here either, his brother wouldn't be able to hunt himself for a while so he needed someone to do it for him. Eventually he decided to keep his discovery hidden and care for him as long as he could hoping to gain his trust that way. Once his brother realised he wouldn't try to hurt him it would be much easier to either bring him home or at least introduce him to Raúl.

A noise from the man in front of him tore him out of his thoughts. His brother was looking at him. For the first time since Sergio had found him his eyes were actually open and looking at him. A low growl made him flinch moving away a little from the injured man who tried to push himself up but collapsed right back down groaning in pain. Sergio moved closer quickly: “No, no, no don't get up.” His brother hissed at him clearly not wanting to be touched and he pulled his hand back. “I'm leaving, okay?”, he held his hands up do show him he didn't mean to harm him and moved back slowly.

He nonetheless couldn't resist to return one more time that night with a couple of blankets to make sure his brother wouldn't be cold and could lay as comfortable as possible. His jacket he left for him to use as a pillow hoping Raúl would be so busy obsessing over finding him he wouldn't notice it was missing.

When 15.637 woke up he remembered next to nothing of what had happened the previous night, his body felt sore all over but breathing had gotten a little easier. Carefully he sat up, hissed in pain and laid right back down. Removing the blankets he didn't recall getting he found his stomach bandaged and all the blood he'd lost cleaned up. He frowned when he notice a foreign scent surrounding him. He took the jacket his head had been resting on after realising it was the smell's source and memories from the night before came pouring back.

He remembered hands, gentle hands taking care of his wound, helping him feed, covering him in blankets. Most vividly he remembered the deep brown eyes that had looked at him with so much worry and an emotion he couldn't quite place. The sound of footsteps put him right back in defense mode. A man entered and 15.637 relaxed a little once he recognised the eyes from the night before. He wondered what the man wanted, if he really was a friendly, to be sure he wasn't falling for a put on act he assesed his every movement not taking his eyes of him for a second.

To his surprise the man only put a bottle down in front of him, gave him a small smile and then left him again. He spend another two or three minutes completely motionless just in case before slowly grabbing the bottle and opening it. The intoxicating smell of blood filled his nose and without a second thought he had downed the bottle's content. He looked at the door the stranger had entered through wondering who he was and why he was helping him.

The stranger's visits became a habit. Every morning he would come by, put down a bottle of fresh blood, smile at him and leave again. Once 15.637 had grown strong enough to walk a couple of steps a few days after their first meeting, the man brought him dead bodies to drink from. He never spoke or tried to approach 15.637, he only ever smiled making him feel strangely secure.

The sun had just risen and the air was still cool and fresh when the stranger came bringing a new body. He put it down, smiled and turned to leave when 15.637 spoke: “Stay.” The man turned back around looking at him questioningly but he had already leaped at the body and was drinking greedily. Slowly he approached 15.637 sitting down beside his makeshift bed watching him feed.

Sergio was ecstatic. For the first time his brother had said something and he hadn't told him to leave or never come back. He couldn't help but wonder what had sparked this small but significant change of events but he accepted it gladly. Once he had satisfied his hunger his brother sat back down on his bed looking at Sergio with an unreadable expression. He shifted a little, he wasn't sure whether to speak or not. Eventually he decided if one of them was to speak first it should be his brother, he wanted to give him full control over the situation, so he waited but the silence remained. To him it felt like hours were passing by as they sat together, looking at one another, carefully examining the person in front of them but when he checked his watch mere minutes had passed.

He had to get back otherwise the others would become suspicious and ask uncomfortable questions and now that he had just started making progress he couldn't allow them to ruin it. His brother frowned slightly when he stood up and Sergio was quick to smile at him reassuringly: “I'll be back.” For a heartbeat or two the younger man looked at him before nodding and turning away from him.

Their following encounters proceeded in the same way. His brother would ask him to stay before he fed, Sergio would sit in silence with him for a couple of minutes and then left to dispose of the body and return home. What he didn't know was that soon after the first time he had spoken to him, his brother began to feel pain in his abdomen. While barely noticable at first the pain soon began to increase. 15.637 wasn't sure what it meant but simply continued to take the painkillers the man had left with him after their first encounter. One day the man arrived without a body and panic written all over his face.

Sergio kneeled down next to his brother frantically tearing off the bandages: “I'm so sorry, I forgot. I should have known better, I swear I would never hurt you on purpose.” Once the bandages were off he was tempted to throw up. He had forgotten to change the bandages and the wound had of course gotten infected since he also hadn't known how to properly stitch it up. “Do you feel pain?” “Yes.” Sergio ran a hand through his hair: “For how long?” “A couple of days”, his brother seemed confused.

“Oh god. You need a doctor, now. This will kill you if Xabi doesn't treat you”, he tried to move closer to him but he shied away instantly. As he tried to get to his feet he felt a searing pain in his stomach making him groan and sink back to the ground. Sergio was beside him within a second: “Please, I need you to trust me, I just want to help you get better. Please.”

15.637 looked at him studying his eyes and face to see if there was a hidden threat somewhere but was unable to find anything, so he swallowed his pride and put his arms around the other man's neck and allowed him to lift him off the ground.

Sergio ran as fast as he could but he had never run while carrying a person and was scared to hurt him so it took them a lot longer than it should have to get home. When he reached the house he realised his brother had lost consciousness. He almost kicked the door in as he entered: “Xabi! I need your help, fast!”

His older brother stood beside him in an instant lifting an eyebrow: “Who's that, if I may ask?” “Our brother.” Xabi's eyes widened in surprise motioning Sergio to follow him upstairs. Just before they reached his treatment room Alvaro blocked their way. “And where are we going?”, he grinned and Sergio instinctively held on a little tighter to his baby brother. “Get out of my way, Alvaro”, Xabi hissed but only got a laugh in return while his brother didn't move an inch.

“I'm only saying this one more time, get out of the way”, Sergio had never seen the Basque this angry, “don't make me remove you.” “Show your brother a little respect, Xabi. He's just doing what he has to to protect the family”, Guti slowly stepped behind Alvaro, “though I suppose I shouldn't expect you to understand.”

“Are you insulting my son for doing the right thing?”, Raúl joined them in the hallway. Xabi groaned: “As much fun as this is, I've got to get to work.” His father nodded and before anyone could say anything both him and Alvaro had suddenly vanished. “Oh, come on”, Guti hissed before following his boyfriend to give him a piece of his mind for bringing Alvaro away. Xabi sighed in relief before showing Sergio where to put their brother down.

 

“What was that?”, Guti growled angrily pushing Raúl against the closest wall. Alvaro looked at both of them in surprise for a second and decided to leave, he'd never really seen either of them that angry and prepared to tear each others throats out if they had to and didn't want to end up between the fronts. “I was protecting our son.” “If you call that piece of filth my son one more time, I swear to god I will rip him to pieces, Raúl.”

His fingernails dug painfully into Guti's shoulders before he pushed him away forcefully: “You dare put your hands on him and you'll see how that ends for you. Like it or not but he is part of the family now and we will do whatever we can to help him.” “Count me out”, before Raúl could say something he had disappeared.

Sighing he leaned back against the wall taking a few moments to calm down before calling for Pepe to position himself in front of Xabi's treatment room and ensure no one would get close to his son.

 

“Xabi, I'm so sorry, I completely forgot I had to change them, I swear I-” “Sergio, breathe, please. I'm trying to work here and I really can't use you passing out because you start hyperventilating”, Xabi carefully injected the narcotics before preparing the surgery, “I'll need you to leave, now. You had the right idea but not the skills to do this properly, so don't beat yourself up about it. Send Fabio upstairs, tell him to prepare for surgery.” Sergio stared at him wide-eyed feeling a little calmer but still unable to move until his brother growled at him.

Fabio entered the room a couple of seconds later. “The wound got infected, I'll have to remove the dead cells surgically and since Alvaro would do anything to kill him, I'll need your help”, he explained while pulling the string Sergio had used to close the wound out slowly. His brother nodded and pulled his face mask over his mouth making sure the room would stay as sterile as possible.

Sergio spend his time walking in circles in front of the room while his brothers performed the surgery willing the feeling of guilt and responsibility for his baby brother's pain to go away. He wished Iker would be with him now and tell him everything was okay but his boyfriend was still mad at him for joining Raúl's side. He jumped slightly when his father stood next to him all of a sudden and asked him how his injured son was doing. After he had told him about the surgery Xabi and Fabio were currently performing Raúl asked him to follow him to his office.

Swallowing dryly he followed him. He had known this was coming but had hoped until the last moment maybe Raúl would just forget to question him about how he'd found his brother. He sat down before his father had to say anything and waited for him to speak. “When?”

Sergio cleared his throat: “The day you send us out to find him.” “Why did you hide your discovery?” “He was injured and scared and I figured if I brought someone else he'd freak out and try to flee. I swear, I just wanted to help him, I wanted him to trust me so he'd let me help him, I didn't mean to keep it from you -”

Raúl raised his hand and his son closed his mouth. For a moment he said nothing only eyeing him: “You've done well, Sergio. You had the right idea but you should have still come to me and told me about it. I would have understood and helped you. Sergio, I know we had a rough start and things aren't always easy between you and me because you joined our family in a different way than your brothers but I trust you and your judgement. And I need you to trust me, too.”

“I trust you”, he replied without missing a beat, “I'm sorry I didn't tell you.” A small smile appeared on his father's face and he came around the table pulling Sergio up from his chair and hugging him. The young vampire froze for a moment as Raúl had never hugged him up to this point before returning the hug tightly. For the very first time Sergio felt truly accepted by his father.

Raúl patted his back before letting go of him: “Now, let's see how your brother is doing.”

Pepe was still standing guard in front of Xabi's treatment room to make sure no one entered and disturbed the surgery when his father and youngest brother arrived. He caught the older vampire's eye and briefly shook his head. While Raúl seemed calm on the outside Sergio could hear his heart beating faster than usual. They waited for three hours in front of the room before the door opened and Xabi stuck his head out of the door: “Get me fresh blood, type B+ and hurry I need it fast.” Pepe had disappeared before his brother had finished his sentence.

“How is he doing?”, Raúl forced himself to stay calm. “The infected wound caused a sepsis, blood poisoning”, Xabi explained for Sergio, “I have Fabio keeping him stable right now, he needs a blood transfusion before I can treat him with antibiotics and pain killers. Good news is, we removed the source of infection and the wound will heal. Bad news is, as of now I can't determine whether he'll survive the sepsis or not. Pepe, finally.” He took the blood his brother had brought and disappeared back into the room.

Raúl ran a hand through his hair sighing deeply. He gave Sergio a small smile when he squeezed his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. “You should get some sleep, both of you. I'll stay here”, Sergio and Pepe looked at each other silently before nodding and retreating to their bedrooms. They knew it was no good to try and argue with their father right now.

Late at night the door opened again and Xabi waved Raúl inside: “He'll live. He's weak and needs rest but he's going to be okay. I'll stay with him until he wakes up to make sure he remains stable and nothing happens but I'd appreciate it if you could leave Pepe in front of the door.” His father nodded absentmindedly his eyes rested on his sleeping son. The bed seemed too big for him and Raúl felt a little sick thinking about what might have been done to him in Barcelona. Xabi's hand on his shoulder shook him from his thoughts: “Look, there's something you should probably know beforehand. I discovered countless scars on his back and torso and they're not from his human years. These scars are definitely the results of wounds inflicted with silver knives that were never treated properly. From what I can tell he's patched himself up several times. He's been either tortured or punished many times, so we have to expect significant trust issues once he wakes up. Every one of us who's not trying to kill him has to be alerted just in case he tries to run.”

Raúl nodded once again and slowly sat down next to his son's bed. He looked peaceful, like he hadn't gone through hell for god knows how long but his father could still recall the looks of fear in his eyes when Guti and he had attacked him a while back. “Don't beat yourself up about this.” Raúl lifted his head to look at Xabi who had apparently watched him intently.

“I know you. I know you think there's something you could have done to protect him but there's not. There was a reason we found him now and not earlier. Before this moment he wasn't of interest for us, sounds cruel but you know it's true, so for once don't do what you always do and just be glad he's as safe as he can be now”, Xabi crossed his arms in front of his chest. A smile appeared on his father's face and he got up from his brother's bedside. Squeezing his shoulder briefly Raúl went to the door: “I'll leave Pepe here to stand guard.”

Hours passed. Hours Xabi spend patiently waiting and exchanging IV bags when necessary. The hand on his watch had just passed six a.m. when the door opened and Alvaro entered. The Basque immediately took a defensive position in front of his baby brother's bed prepared to do what he had to protect him. His brother chuckled lightly: “What's wrong, dear? You look a little defensive there.” “How did you get in here?”

“Convinced Pepe James had a nightmare and called for him. You know he has a softspot for him. Locked the door afterwards, just to be sure.” “Pepe wouldn't fall for that.” “I've got a silver tongue, remember brother?”, Alvaro's grin reminded him of a cat waiting for the mouse to come out of its hiding place, knowing he was going to kill it. “Leave now, before I make you”, Xabi straightened his posture to intimidate him, knowing if it came to a fight he'd have the advantage his speed gave him but his brother was stronger. His mind was racing as he went through strategy after strategy trying to find one where all of them made it out of the fight alive.

“Already looking for an escape aren't you?”, he hadn't noticed how much closer Alvaro had come, he could feel the heat radiating from his body, “I know you, Xabi. I can see your eyes moving around the room, I can feel your tension, I can almost hear your thoughts spinning around in your mind.” His brother's voice was barely above a whisper but it resonated in Xabi's ears like he was yelling. Like a cat he moved around the Basque running his hand over his chest and back as he circled him leaving a burning trail of heat. Alvaro had always had a way with words, almost magically attracting people when he spoke, convincing them of whatever he felt like. It was different than their natural charm, something that could even draw a vampire in and make him do things he'd normally never do. Up to this point Alvaro had always respected him too much to actually use his silver tongue on him.

Xabi turned his head following his brother's slow circles around him. Eventually he stopped gripping the Basque's arm tightly and turning him towards their baby brother's bed. He felt his chin digging into his shoulder as Alvaro rested his head there.

“I know you aren't convinced”, involuntarily he leaned his head a little towards his brother's voice, “you don't know what to think about him, am I right? You know he could be a danger, kill us all. You don't want to trust him but Raúl poisoned your mind, made you believe you have to trust him. But you don't. You have a choice, Xabi.” He growled lowly and Alvaro moved back for a moment before gripping his shoulders: “Look at him. Laying there all defenseless. He's harmless now, but what's going to happen when he wakes up. He's a Culé, all he knows is murder, he won't make a difference between us and a human. We could stop him... if we kill him now.”

Subconsciously he had allowed Alvaro to lead him closer to his brother's bed. He looked so innocent, so harmless but what if he wasn't? “Come on, Xabi. I know you want to do the right thing”, his brother whispered lowly sending a shiver down his spine, “so do it.” Just when he was actually considering killing his little brother Xabi's brain snapped back into action and he forcefully pushed Alvaro away towards the door.

“Nice try, I gotta give you that but you won't make me kill my brother. And now, fuck off”, he growled not missing the dangerous glint in his brother's eyes as he tensed up. Alvaro cracked his knuckles: “I just wanted to help you Xabi, but if you won't let me...” Both of them hissed ready to attack the other one any second when the door opened and Raúl entered. “Alvaro”, the sharp sound of his voice made his son spin around. “Fuck”, Alvaro gritted his teeth. “Get out, now”, his father sounded dangerous enough for him to back off and push past him out of the room immediately.

“Are you okay, Xabi?” “Yeah, just a little woozy, damn his silver tongue”, he rubbed his hand over his face. Raúl squeezed his shoulder briefly: “Go to sleep, I'll watch him.” His son smiled gratefully and followed his father outside who positioned himself in front of the door.

 

His eyes fluttered open. 15.637 groaned and tried rolling on his side only to immediately hiss in pain. Once the pain had subsided he carefully pulled up his shirt and discovered a freshly stitch up wound on his abdomen. Slowly he sat up scanning his surroundings. He obviously wasn't in the barn anymore. His blood ran cold when he remembered the man who had been taking care of him had convinced him to move him to another place. He must have fallen unconscious giving the stranger the perfect opportunity to bring him wherever he pleased. 15.637 got out of the bed frowning as the medical supplies surrounding him.

Once he had adjusted to the thought of being at a new unknown location he noticed the many heartbeats ringing in his ears, he wasn't alone. The man had betrayed him. Adrenaline began rushing through his veins and his fight or flight response kicked in. Forcefully he kicked in the door, he assumed the strangeled noise he heard meant someone had been standing in front of the door. No matter how curious he was to see who his new enemy was he had to keep moving. He found a staircase in record time and found himself in a run-down bar. From upstairs he heard footsteps following him and his panic increased.

“What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be in bed”, a bearded man came forth behind the bar counter approaching rapidly, in his panic 15.637 was quick to punch him. Two other men entered the downstairs area, he immediately recognised them as the people he had been supposed to kill a week or so ago, Raúl González and his boyfriend. Guti immediately attacked him kicking him away from the bearded man who yelled at him to better be careful he just stitched that wound. Raúl on the other hand turned around to the staircase shouting for someone called Sergio to come downstairs immediately. Afterwards he turned his attention back to his boyfriend and 15.637 grabbing Guti's arm and twisting it on his back before slamming him into the nearest wall growling: “Hands off my son.”

15.637 was confused, he had no idea what was happening. Why was he in his enemy's home? Why was Gutierrez trying to kill him but González protecting him? His confusion only increased when the man who had probably brought him here hurried down the stairs. Judging by the relieved look on Raúl's face, the man was actually Sergio, the one he had called for.

Sergio slowly approached him holding up his hands in an effort to show him he meant no harm and wasn't armed: “It's okay, I know you're scared but you're in a safe place. We won't hurt you.” “What about him?”, 15.637 nodded his head in Gutierrez's direction. The bearded man smirked: “I like him already, he's smart.”

He had just begun to relax a little keeping his eyes fixed on Sergio when the front door behind him opened and fearing he might be attacked 15.637 punched the man entering in the face before kicking him back out the door again. Suddenly he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. Sergio slowly turned him back around running a hand up and down his arm in an effort to calm him.

In the corner of his eye he saw Raúl letting go of Guti who seemed shocked by the fact that Sergio was still in one piece. 15.637 relaxed further into the touch and forced his breathing to slow down. “There you go, it's okay”, the other man spoke in a low voice to keep him calm and relax him, “nothing to be scared of, we just want to help.”

Bearded man slowly approached them: “Can I touch you?” 15.637 felt weirdly thankful for him asking permission before doing anything, he nodded slowly and the man carefully took his arm leading him back upstairs. He quickly grabbed Sergio's arm hoping he would get the hint and not leave him alone, the younger vampire made him feel much safer than he'd ever thought he could feel. Luckily he immediately understood and helped bearded man to bring him upstairs.

He briefly saw the man he had kicked out the door pressing his hands on another man's chest obviously in an effort to keep him outside. 15.637 sighed a little and added him and Gutierrez to the list of people who wanted him dead.

 

Fabio pressed his hands against Cristiano's chest effectively stopping him from running after their baby brother and tearing his head off. “Let go of me, right now”, his boyfriend's growl almost vibrated in his bones but he only increased the pressure, “he wanted to kill you, Fabio, I won't let him get away with that.” He almost rolled his eyes: “You're being ridicolous, Cris. He panicked because he didn't see me coming and didn't know whether I would try to hurt him or not. You can't hold him accountable for a natural response.”

Cristiano pushed him away causing Fabio to stumble backwards: “Stop trying to protect him, he doesn't deserve it! He's a Culé, all he knows is murder and I refuse to sit here and wait until he kills one of us.” “Don't you dare yelling at me, Cristiano. I'm not the innocent little boy you have to explain to how the world works, I haven't been that guy in a long time. I know you have a desperate need for control but you learned long ago I can't be controlled.” He looked at Fabio in surprise, it wasn't like him to go off like that.

“Why would you betray me like this?”, the hurt in his voice was evident but once again his boyfriend's reaction caught him off guard. “Quit being such a drama queen. I love you, Cris and you know that but this is straight up ridicolous. You're not thinking clearly. I'm not betraying you in any way, all I'm doing is protecting my brother but you're too caught up in your imagination and the picture you have of him to understand that”, Fabio took a deep breath, “I'm sorry for being this blunt but I'm afraid this might be the only way to get this into your thick skull. Now, go to the gym and blow off some steam, you need it.”

Cristiano watched him wide-eyed as he walked up the stairs and disappeared from sight. He had never seen Fabio like this. Usually he was so calm and patient and would never even imagine to allow his anger to overtake him like that. Without thinking about what he was doing he turned around and left the house to go to the gym.

Iker stood outside on the terrace staring into space when Alvaro joined him outside. “Walk with me?”, his younger brother asked surprisingly tame. Iker cast him a suspicious sideglance before nodding and following him inside through the bar and outside on the street. He wasn't exactly sure where they were headed and assumed neither did his brother but he figured there was a reason he wanted to get away from the house.

“How do we get rid off him?”, Iker looked at Alvaro in confusion, “You know who I'm talking about and I know you agree with me so don't give me your oh-so innnocent puppy dog eyes.” He sighed: “I doubt there's anything we can do honestly. Raúl won't let anything happen to him. He's completely blind to any possbile danger and his connection is clouding his judgement.”

“Accidents happen”, Alvaro grinned at him wickedly. He shook his head pinching the bridge of his nose: “I'm not sure I like agreeing with you on something.” His brother scoffed telling him not to be such a baby about it. They walked in silence for a while until Alvaro proposed the idea of pretending to accept their new brother and then kill him once they got the chance. Iker scoffed, as much as he wanted to protect his family, he knew Raúl would never fall for such an act. Their father knew especially Alvaro way too well for that. “Come on, Iker, we have to do something. We for once actually agree on certain things, we gotta use that. My idea is pretty genius, so unless you have a better one I say we do it.”

“You know we can't do this, if Raúl sees through us it's going to ruin everything”, his brother reminded him. Alvaro groaned in annoyance: “We have Guti on our side, that's gotta be enough. He wants to get rid of him, too, I bet he'd help us.” If the situation hadn't been that serious Iker would have probably laughed: “You know exactly Guti is powerless against Raúl if one of us gets hurt or killed.”

Alvaro went through a couple of different ideas ranging from stunning their brother and sending him off to a different country to returning him to the Culés when Raúl wasn't looking as they made their way back home. Much to his disappointment Iker failed to see the genius behind all of them. He made a mental note that agreeing with his older brother was boring and he'd never do it again before disappearing into the cellar.

Iker went upstairs into the library but no matter how hard he tried to focus on his book his thoughts kept returning to Alvaro's idea of simply returning the unwanted brother to Xavi and let him deal with the problem. On the one hand he was shocked and disgusted with himself for even considering the idea but on the other hand he was desperate to protect his brothers and wasn't willing to even allow the chance of one of them getting hurt or worse. He would go to unimaginable lengths to protect his own and the current situation had made him very desperate.

Guti paced around in circles not sure what to think. He had retreated to one of the spare rooms he used for pets when Raúl wasn't home wanting some peace and quiet to think. The Culé's response to Sergio had surprised him, he'd expected him to kill his son on the spot proving to Raúl he had been right all along. Instead he hadn't raised a finger against Sergio and even seemed to want to have him around. None of this fit the picture he had of him, maybe wanted to have of him even. Culés were devious, treacherous and not to be trusted, so what game was this one playing?

Eventually he decided he needed answers and he needed them now and there was only one person able to give him those answers. Without bothering to knock he entered the room Xabi was keeping him in. “Get out”, he said to Xabi and Sergio nodding towards the door. While Xabi reluctantly turned and made his way to the door Sergio stayed put eyeing Guti. He groaned in annoyance: “Are you deaf? I said get out.” “José”, the warning tone of Raúl's voice only made his blood boil more. “Sorry, hon but I don't exactly have the patience to deal with this right now.”

“I'm not leaving him.” Guti threw his head back growling deeply before it snapped back forward looking at his son with a dangerous glint in his eyes warning him not to force him to drag him out. “I can't be sure you won't hurt him, so I'm staying.” Sergio looked down when he felt his baby brother squeeze his hand, before he turned his hand around until Sergio's fingers were resting against his wrist allowing him to feel his pulse. To his surprise the younger was calm showing no sign of fear or distrust. Slowly he let go of his hand moving towards Xabi who was standing with one hand on the doorknob not entirely sure what to do now. “I'll be waiting right outside the door, if I hear anything that suggests you're hurting him...” “I'm still here, Sergio. I'd die before I allow any of my sons to get hurt. I'll look after him”, Raúl offered him a slight smile and after a moment of hesitation Sergio nodded and followed Xabi outside.

Guti sighed deeply pinching the bridge of his nose: “They're so exhaustingly complicated sometimes.” Instead of the expected affirmation he only earned himself a glare from his boyfriend who seemed to be more than tempted to separated his head from his body any second. Before he had the chance to demand an explanation for his behaviour Guti beat him to it.

“Don't bother getting all defensive, I just have questions I need answered. Until I have my answers I won't kill him.” Raúl crossed his arms in front of his chest raising an eyebrow: “Questions?”

“Look, Querido, while I get your whole “I'm his father and I'll protect him”-act and it's great really, very honourable” his boyfriend growled lowly at the sarcasm in Guti's voice, “we know nothing about him, we don't even have a name. If he stays here until an unfortunate accident kills him we should at least know a couple of things about him.”

Raúl hissed: “Unfortunate accident?” “Fine, wrong choice of words. But you're missing my point, we're letting him stay here, a Culé, and you don't think we should at least have a name for him?” He gritted his teeth, although he didn't want to he had to admit the blonde was right. Raúl walked over to help his son sit up properly and then nodded in Guti's direction to ask his questions while remaining close with his arms crossed over his chest never taking his eyes off him just in case.

“Why don't you first of all give me a name before I have to make one up myself”, Guti leaned back against a wall crossing his arms and straightening his posture to seem more intimidating. The boy in front of him took his time answering though. Instead of making it easier on both of them and getting the interrogation over with fast he eyed Guti for a while as if trying to read him, as if trying to determine whether he was an actual threat or actually just wanted to talk for now. Guti growled impatiently: “I won't ask again.”

His body stiffened a little as memories he had buried deeply resurfaced.

 

“ _Name?” “......” The punch knocked the air out of his lungs. “Name, soldier?” He gritted his teeth: “......” The next punch hit his face making him growl. This one would leave a nasty bruise. “Wrong again. We've been through this before, soldier. Just make it easy on yourself. Name?” “Go fuck yourself.” He howled in pain when he felt the knife pierce his insides. The silver burned his skin and made his insides feel like they were on fire._

_The vampire's knees buckled and he desperately tried to get air into his lungs._

“ _I am going to ask you one last time, soldier. Your name?” He gritted his teeth trying to ignore the pain speaking was causing him: “15.637.”_

While the memory of the pain hit him with full force the name he had answered remained blurried to him, all he knew was the number they had forced into his brain. He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Guti growl dangerously.

“15.637”, the boy replied before he could repeat his question. The blonde looked at Raúl raising an eyebrow as if trying to say I told you something was wrong with him. In the corner of his eye he saw his boyfriend growing tense as if he knew what the number meant but had no patience to ask him for an explanation.

“What's that supposed to mean? I asked for your name, not a random number.” Raúl closed his eyes briefly, once again he was reminded why he should never allow Guti to interrogate anyone, he was way too short tempered. “I told you, 15.637”, the boy snapped back. “Are you fucking kidding me? Did you even get the fucking question?”

“The number _is_ my name, you moron”, Guti hissed angrily and he flinched realizing it might not be the best time to talk back right now, “it's all I know about myself. I don't know my name, who I am, who I'm used to be, all I've got and all I am is this number. One of many younglings to serve Xavi, machines bred to kill.”

Raúl sighed closing his eyes briefly before mumbling more to himself than addressing the other vampires: “Of course, Xavi's soldiers have numbers instead of names.” He noticed Guti tensing up while his own blood seemed to freeze in his veins. He could barely imagine what Xavi must have put the boy through to replace man with machine and break his mind like that. “Why did he send you after us?”, Guti's voice had gotten a little more silent much to his boyfriend's and his own surprise but his clenched fists spoke volumes about the anger he was currently trying to hold in.

“Punishment”, he replied without hesitating realizing honesty would serve him better than rebelliousness, “I caused him a lot of trouble pretty much all the time, I wouldn't let him break me as easily as the other younglings. I had to stay alive to make him pay but I don't remember what for. He punished me a lot, or well, his soldiers did. When he told me to go after you I didn't know what was going to happen, I didn't know you were my target, all I had been told was he was trying a new kind of punishment and I was supposed to retrieve younglings that had tried to flee the clan. I can only assume he expected you to kill me.”

“Why not kill you before? Why go through all the trouble?” “I was valuable. For a youngling I'm pretty strong, fast, skilled, he liked that so he kept me around. I guess he had enough.” Guti nodded slowly before turning around and leaving the room. 15.637 looked at Raúl expectantly but he didn't seem to know either what had just happened or where his boyfriend was headed to. He called Xabi and Sergio back into the room and instructed them not to leave their brother's side until he returned promising he'd explain everything once he had the time. When Xabi kept asking he didn't reply and left instead.

 

Bones cracked beneath his feet as he walked over the bodies littering the ground. Granted maybe Guti had went a little crazy in his quest to get information but he was short on patience and none of them had wanted to help him out though he had kindly asked. He growled lowly, stretching his neck a little before entering a room to his right, the strong smell of blood giving away whoever was feeding behind the door. This was taking much too long for his liking. “Alright, I'm in a bad mood and really need to punch something right now, so who wants to go first?”

The younglings occupying the room looked up from their prey, hissing angrily not willing to share their meal. Their eyes widened once they realised he wasn't a Culé. The smell of blood filled his nose and for just a second he felt hunger pulling at his insides. Shaking his head shortly he returned to the task at hand. “No volunteers? Fine, I'll make my pick”, his lips curved into a dangerous smirk, “unless of course one of you would be willing to give me some very specific infortmation.” It was a risky game but one he was more than willing to play knowing fully well he couldn't lose. Should the younglings not give him the information he sought, he'd kill them and find someone who'd cooperate a little better. He saw them exchange quick looks clearly unsure whether to follow his request or try to run and find their superiors. Eventually one of them slowly rose to his feet abandoning the prey he had been willing to fight for just minutes ago: “What do you want to know?”

Guti almost chuckled, the Culés really had to learn how to train their younglings better, they hadn't even demanded to know who he was and even more stupid, they had allowed the bloodrush to drown out their environment making them deaf to what had happened outside the room. And Xavi was still wondering why his younglings simply couldn't keep up with the Blancos although they were much bigger in numbers, but who was he to judge “Who is 15.637?”

“15.637? Isn't that one long dead?“, the low growl escaping Guti's throat caused the young to back down immediately, “He was a troublemaker but Xavi liked him a lot so he kept him around.” He hissed impatiently: “I know that, but what about his name? Who _is_ he?” The youngling looked at him in utter confusion clearly not sure what exactly he was talking about.. He pinched the bridge of his nose before asking who had been responsible for his training. “559 is responsible for training the younglings, he directly answers to our leader.” He nodded: “And where do I find that guy?” After learning 559 was currently training younglings he quickly killed his informants and left. Having broken into Xavi's facility on several occassions already Guti had a good idea of the mansions floorplan and its underground tunnel and room system that stretched out underneath almost the entire city. He distinctly remembered the younglings being trained a little further from the city's most populated places. Once he found what he was looking for he understood why, the screams welcoming him were pretty impossible to overhear though he doubted the citizens would actually dare to ask any questions.

Gradually he crept closer to the opening at the end of the tunnel. Pressing against the wall he peeked around the corner. This part of the underground system was new to him and he couldn't help but be a little curious about what he would find. His breath got stuck in his throat when he saw what exactly “training the younglings” involved. Guti had seen, done and personally experienced a lot and obviously he had his suspicions as to what the Culés were doing to train their younglings but what he found surpassed his wildest expectations.

The tunnel lead to a large open space where all forms of torture were executed on the younglings. Some were tied to chairs with their head bend backwards while behind them older vampires let water pour over their cloth-covered faces giving them the impression of drowning unless they were apparently abled to give the correct answer when asked for their name and who their loyalty belonged to. Others were stuck in glass cages steadily filling with water desperately trying to pump it out to save themselves from drowning or hanging upside down from the ceiling. The air was filled with panicked screams from those thinking they were drowning and quiet whimpers from the ones hanging upside down. The enforcers continously shouted questions at them drilling the number which was now serving as their name into their brains and breaking the last remainders of an actual indentity.

While taking in the sight in front of him Guti spotted a man walking around the room shouting orders from time to time or participating in the torturing every once in a while. Instinctively he knew he had found who he had been looking for. 559 was currently stepping up to one of the soldiers standing off to the side ensuring none of the younglings tried to escape and whispered something to him. The soldiers nodded and crossed the room making his way to the tunnel Guti was still hiding in. He quickly rushed back to a crossroad he had passed earlier, vanishing in the darknesss the way he had come provided. For a split second he worried the man would smell him but after all the Culés he had killed already his scent was probably covered well enough.

The soldier turned left and Guti followed suit. After a while the tunnel opened into another large space. The room itself was empty but the walls were covered in a series of doors. He waited until the soldier had made his round peeking into every room and left before approaching the first door. Once he was close enough he realised it didn't lead to a normal room but to a cell that could be seen into through a tiny slit in the door. Inside the cell he saw a person sitting on their knees with their hands bound behind their back wearing googles, a mask, earmuffs and gloves surrounded by blinding white light that burned in his sensitive eyes. He recognized it almost instantly, White Torture. The person was being put through sensory deprivation and isolation while the white light caused them to lose track of time. A very effective way to force the loss of personal identity.

His hands clenched into fists and he tried to take a deep, calming breath. Guti didn't care much for the torture the younglings were submitted to in order to break their mind but much rather did the fact that the boy currently resting in his home had been put through the exact same thing. For the first time since meeting the boy a sense of need to protect him grew in him. Hot, blinding anger began building up inside of him at the thought of his son being tortured in this place. With wrath gnawing at his insides he went back through the other corridor to confront 559.

“Good job everybody”, a mocking voice echoed through the tunnel, “let's put them back into their cells and call it a day.” Guti's muscles tensed, perfect timing. He patiently waited until the other vampires had left with the younglings before attacking 559. He twisted his arm back until it broke before shoving him into the closest wall, fingernails digging into his skin. Tempted to scratch his eyeballs out Guti tried to focus on why he was there. The fear was instantly visible on the 559's face and Guti found himself a little pleased, he'd have been insulted if the other had died not knowing who had killed him.

“How did you get in here?” He paid no mind to the ridiculously shaky voice and instead forced his hands around his neck immediately tightening his grip: “Who is 15.637?”

 

Raúl silently closed the door to Xavi's office behind him, he didn't have much time before he would return from feeding. He moved swiftly behind the desk and opened one of the shelf's drawers behind it. In a matter of seconds he had gone through several thousand files before finding the one he had been looking for.

“15.637. Jesé Rodríguez Ruiz, born February 26th 1993\. Mother, father and girlfriend, all killed. Extended, individual training due to misbehaviour. Status: dead”, Raúl hissed silently, he knew to some extend what Xavi's idea of training was and the thought that one of his sons had been submitted to such a treatment made him feel sick. The file's size told him there was much more to be learned about Jesé's time here, but he was out of time, Xavi would return in a matter of minutes now and he had to be gone by then. He had the basic information he wanted but despite knowing he should be leaving a part of him was tempted to stay and kill Xavi on the spot for ever laying a hand on his son. Quickly he shoved the file back and left the office carefully leaning over the parapet making sure no one was downstairs before speeding down the steps and into the catacombs to follow Alvaro's secret entrance.

When he returned home hours later and went to see Jesé Guti was already in the room receiving suspicious glances from both Xabi and Sergio who had strategically positioned themselves between the two men. Guti turned with an almost too bright grin when he heard the door open: “Querido, where have you been? We've all been waiting for you.” “I was out gathering some information on our son”, he responded before sitting down next to the boy's bed eyeing his boyfriend a little worriedly. Guti being in such a good mood was never good news.

“Ah, well I guess we don't need to use that stupid number anymore then, right Jesé?”, Raúl's head snapped up so quickly something in his neck cracked dangerously but his boyfriend only winked at him grinning even wider than before, “you're not the only one who knows how to get his information.” “Dear god José, what did you do?” Before he was given the chance to reply their son sat up a little straighter in his bed: “Jesé?”

The name felt foreign in his mouth, like a long lost memory that was lurking somewhere in the back of his head but wasn't quite there. He repeated the name, trying to remember if it sounded right, trying to make sense of its connection to him. Memories washed over him as he said the name, his name, again and again like a mantra. His vision blurred and he forgot where he was. He saw a woman's face before his eyes, kind and beautiful and something inside him felt like he knew her. When images of blood and dead bodies and the sounds of pained screams and whimpers filled his mind he grabbed the sheets tightly only able to snap out of his head when he felt a hand touch his. He jerked violently grabbing the hand and bending it backwards until he felt bones crack under his fingers. Sergio's face came into focus and he slowly calmed down at the sound of the other's voice although he couldn't make out what he was saying. Looking down he realised it was Sergio's wrist he was holding on to and had almost broken, he quickly let go as if the touch of his skin had suddenly stung him and he heard the other one take a deep breath while Xabi rushed to his side to examine his injury.

“I'm sorry”, Jesé mumbled. Sergio gave him a small smile: “Don't worry about it.” “No, you've been nothing but kind towards me and helped me when you had no reason to and I hurt you like that.” His uninjured hand grabbed his brother's tightly: “Jesé, you're my brother, of course I helped you. And don't worry about my wrist, you just learned you used to be someone else before Barcelona happened, I guess it's kinda natural that you freak out. I should have asked if it's okay to touch you, this was my own stupidity.”

“I need to bandage this”, Xabi said matter-of-factly while gently pressing down on a spot on Sergio's wrist that made the younger one jolt, “come on, I'll take you to my treatment room so I can take care of this.” He tried to protest and say it's okay until the Basque gave him a pointed look and he understood he was trying to give Raúl, Guti and Jesé some time to talk without them. After squeezing Jesé's hand one more time he quickly followed Xabi outside.

“I know this is probably overwhelming to you right now but I promise we will help you to regain your memories to our best ability”, Raúl said gently. He shook his head slowly: “I don't think I want to remember.”

Guti slowly stepped closer leaning on the bottom end of the bed: “Listen kid, I know you don't want to hear this but you're gonna have to work through this eventually. If you try to forget the memories will eventually hit you full force and that'll be much harder to deal with. This way you at least have help and the opportunity to do it step by step.” His son looked him up and down for a moment: “I think this might be the nicest thing you've said to me so far.” His lip twitched a little as if he was trying not to break into a smile. Guti looked at him in surprise for a moment before he started laughing while Raúl groaned loudly: “Great, another one of those.” He had feared he'd recognized a little of Guti in Jesé before.

Later when Jesé had worked through the first shock of learning he was actually someone and fallen asleep Guti went down into the bar hoping to find Iker there. His oldest son was currently trying to untangle himself from Sergio who had fallen asleep curled around his boyfriend in one of the booth's.

“Stop laughing and help me”, Iker whispered motioning him to come over. Taking another few moments to laugh about the scene unfolding in front of him Guti decided to have mercy on him and help him out of Sergio's tight grip. When he almost threw over the table trying to get the youngest to loosen his grip Iker hissed at him to at least try and be quiet since he had just gotten Sergio to fall asleep instead of constantly worrying about their youngest brother.

Once they had successfully carried him upstairs and put him to bed they returned to the bar. Guti opened two beers and sat down next to his son who raised his eyebrow at him but accepted the drink. “So, is the boy still alive or did Alvaro finally have his go at him?” Guti's hand clenched around the bottle for a second: “He has a name, you know?” Iker shot him a confused look not sure what to think about that: “Uh, okay, does he now?”

He nodded but didn't feel the need to elaborate for now. “Why does that suddenly matter to you? Hours ago you were willing to do whatever it takes to get him out of the house and away from the family. What changed all of a sudden?”, Iker drank down the entire content of the bottle before focusing on Guti once more. “I know more about him”, when his son looked at him expectantly he sighed, it's been a long day, “I went to Barcelona because who'd believe this bullshit about his name being a number. Long story short, I learned what they do to their younglings. You got so damn lucky, Iker you have no idea. They torture them to break their minds and get them under control. They mess with their heads, pull them out and put something else in that'll keep them loyal and in line. Your brother was stronger than the others so he got his share of punishment to tame him. You know torture means nothing to me, I've seen, done and experienced much worse but the thought of my son being put through this-” He ran a hand over his face tiredly and fell silent. Iker watched him for a while. He knew Guti wouldn't lie to him, not about something like this. No one knew better than him how much the blonde resented the idea of a Culé joining their ranks, he had no reason to lie in his favour. He bit his lip, he had been so focused on hating the younger to his core he had never allowed himself to consider just for a second that maybe he hadn't chosen to be a Culé. He had wanted to hate him, it was just what they did, Blancos and Culés hated each other, but once he had arrived at their house and he had seen how broken the younger one had been, something deep inside of him had begun to warm up to the boy. But he'd tried to push it down, he was a good son and followed his fathers' examples like none of his brothers did, Iker was expected to hate the boy, so he did. Well, Guti had expected him to and when it came down to choosing between Guti's and Raúl's side, no matter how much he loved him, he would always choose Guti.

Now that he had gotten at least an idea of what his baby brother had been through, Iker wasn't sure if he could continue following Guti's example. He knew, if he chose to learn more about the younger one, he would eventually find himself unable to hate him. Closing his eyes briefly he took a deep breath, if he was quite honest with himself he had made his decision when Guti had started talking: “What's his name?”

“Jesé”, he earned himself a soft grin from his father. Iker nodded, grabbed the other's hand and squeezed it: “I'll talk to Alvaro, once he learns you're not on board he'll drop the issue.”

Alvaro almost destroyed half of his room when Iker told him about Guti's change of heart. He could not believe all of them were so willing to trust the boy so easily. Granted, he had expected Iker to change sides, he was easily convinced but he had trusted his father to remain guarded and not believe everything he was told. After Iker had left him Alvaro went out into the city. The sun had set a while ago and he was feeling bloodthirst. When the police found an entire family dead in their apartment the next morning it wasn't his fault.

When the sun rose he decided to leave Madrid for a while not willing to see his family. He tried so hard to protect them but if they kept trusting the wrong people there wasn't much he could do although the anger boiling inside him would have been enough to race home and tear Jesé apart. Instead he decided to wait for his anger to die down a little not wanting to put his family at risk should he lash out.

Though Raúl was used to Alvaro straying from home for weeks sometimes when he was angry enough he couldn't help but worry when his son hadn't returned home the next morning. Iker had told him about the conversation he'd had with him and of course Raúl understood Alvaro's point but he would have prefered to talk it out and explain to him that Jesé was no danger to them. His son was impulsive and when he was truly angry acted on instinct rather than logic which would become a problem if stayed around humans for too long without any supervision.

However when he asked Xabi to tell him where he could possibly find Alvaro, knowing his second eldest worried for him as much as he himself did Xabi refused him. Knowing Alvaro and being closest to him out of all their brothers the Basque knew very well for the sake of the family and himself Alvaro needed to be alone now. He would find him when the time had come.

Raúl couldn't help but be a little frustrated and in his worry even tried to locate Alvaro's phone but his son was smart and had gotten rid of it before leaving god knows where. He wasn't sure what exactly he would do once Alvaro returned home, knowing he could not give him what he would surely ask of him but for now he just wanted him home. Unfortunately he had to admit Xabi was right and as of now the smartest thing to do was wait and hope his son would at least give his brother a chance and observe for a while instead of acting immediately.

While Raúl worried, Sergio took it upon himself to help Jesé figure out who he used to be hoping to take a bit of weight off his father's shoulders. Aside from not recalling what his life had looked like before he had been turned and what exactly had happened to him that day, Jesé also knew nothing about his personality, likes or dislikes or hobbies and that's were Sergio came in. Much to his brother's dismay he quickly got very creative with his ideas as to what Jesé might enjoy. Iker watched in concern as his boyfriend dragged the younger outside shouting: “Don't worry, you'll love flamenco class, I'm sure you will.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading. If you liked this please be so kind and leave me a comment. The edited version of Among Vampires 2 will be up in the next couple of days too so if you liked this maybe you want to check that one out as well. Big hug to everyone who took the time to read this


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